December 9, 2023 // 

By the grace of God, the people of St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church have come a long way together. For over 86 years, this community parish has been a home of mercy, grace, and ministry in the city of Edina and beyond. Our beautiful stone and glass building has been a beacon of faith and hope on the corner of 50th Street and Wooddale Avenue.

We began as a simple place of worship with a nave and undercroft, gradually growing into the faith home we know today with a beautiful chapel and Commons Room along the creek. We have spaces for our youngest to oldest members to learn, gather, and celebrate. We’ve steadily reshaped our grounds and created a wonderful Memorial Garden, open to the gentle waters that flow by, marking the passage of God’s good time in the life and ministry of so many generations of people who are part of this spiritual family.

We are blessed by the gift of the community of St. Stephen’s Church and this beautiful spiritual space. Others worked and gave so that we might enjoy it. Now, our current leadership calls us to give prayer, thought, and vision for our present parish community and for those whom God will bring to discover this faith home in the future.

A STRATEGIC VISION FOR MINISTRY

Throughout 2021 and 2022, our Vestry leadership guided us through the exploration and development of a Strategic Vision for Ministry for St. Stephen’s Church. We engaged Ministry Architects, a thoughtful faith-based consulting team of ministers and ministry professionals, who helped us identify the core values of our parish in this time.

Most likely you won’t be surprised that these discerned values include first and foremost love for God and one another. Then add the gifts of Holy Scripture, the tradition of the Church, and the right use of human reason. And finally, add inclusion, fun, authenticity (“come as you are”), learning, welcome, and giving, and we hope you see these values in the character of the community you experience today.

We know that time flows along like the creek that embraces us. With a strategic vision for ministry now in place, our leadership recognizes it is time to look to the future. Time to consider how our buildings, the physical places of worship, life, and learning, can further express our values in ministry. It is time to integrate our facilities and grounds into plans that will help St. Stephen’s Church shine God’s light in this time and for generations to come.

A COMPREHENSIVE PLAN FOR MINISTRY OF PLACE AND FACILITIES RENEWAL

Our Wardens and Vestry invite the community of St. Stephen’s Church to embark upon a journey toward the development of a comprehensive facilities ministry plan to enhance, improve, and sustain this sacred space. Church leaders have identified initial necessities for facilities improvements and thoughtfully sought out and engaged architectural expertise to help us build a plan. Out of this work, we know we want to address at least four main objectives:

• Accessibility, welcome, and movement throughout our buildings and grounds
• Safety in community, with reliable entrances and exits, lighting, and other improvements
• Improved spaces for programs, learning, and community events
• Environmental sustainability; how we impact God’s Creation

ARCHITECTURAL REPRESENTATIVES TO VISIT WITH US ON DECEMBER 17th

Team members from HGA, the architectural firm selected to partner with us, will be onsite on Sunday, December 17th! This team will continue to make on-site visits over the next several months to observe us in our life, worship, and use of our facilities and grounds. Learn more about HGA Architects

A team of St. Stephen’s Church leaders will serve as the Future Facilities Vision group to guide HGA. This team will also engage our broader parish community in the process through a variety of information-gathering activities. These activities will include ministry groups of the church, leadership committees, staff, and our general membership to gather insights on how we currently use our buildings and what we envision would make them of better use in the future. All members of our community will be invited to provide feedback, offer questions, and take part in this work of discerning a plan that will impact us all.

Throughout the winter, a vision of our shared future will come to life. HGA Architects will provide us with drawings, models, and clear visual representations of our facilities modernized to meet our ministry needs while honoring our existing architecture that is grounded in Episcopal history and theology. With the results of a comprehensive facilities plan in hand and with the guidance of our Vestry and leadership, we can then prayerfully consider as a faith community when and how we might bring these visions to life to the glory of God and the perpetuation of Christian ministry in this place.

We have indeed been blessed by those who came before us. And as we as the community of St. Stephen’s Church look to prepare for the 2nd century of Christian life together in this parish, we can indeed be a blessing to those who will come after us.

If you would like more information regarding this initiative for faithful planning and visioning, please feel free to contact any of us. We encourage everyone to get involved. Watch our parish communications for opportunities to engage in the visioning process in the months ahead.

With thanks to God for the blessings we know through this Church, we look with hope and enthusiasm to our future.

The Rev. Tom Cook, Rector
Tom Beringer, Senior Warden
Mary Sue Vorbrich, Junior Warden